Reject Me (Kin #5)(41)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I hung up the phone before I could come up with something to say. It made no sense at all that Jamey would have gone and done that.

Before I had time to think about what I was doing, I’d gotten back in my car and started driving to the beach.

I had to fix this.

Chapter 22

Jamey

About an hour after Peyton left me standing on my front porch I decided that if I wanted another chance at being with her I had to make amends with Shayne. He and I hadn’t seen eye to eye ever, so I was aware of the challenge it would be to convince him that I’d changed.

From the moment I arrived at his door all hell had broken loose. Shayne came at me, armed with a damn baseball bat. He backed me up off of the porch while screaming. “Get the f**k out of here!”

I put my hands up signaling that I didn’t want any trouble. He needed to know that I wasn’t there to piss him off. “Shayne wait. I just want to talk.”

“Bullshit! There’s nothin’ you can say to me that I haven’t already heard. I told you to stay away from my sister, but you didn’t listen. Now she’s all f**ked up again. Why can’t you learn to leave things alone? Hasn’t she been hurt enough?”

“I’m not tryin’ to hurt her. I’m tryin’ to make things right.”

He pointed the bat at me. “Get off my property or I’ll call the cops and tell them you’re harassin’ us.”

“I’m not harassin’ shit. If anyone’s bein’ ridiculous it’s you.”

That’s all he needed to fuel his motivation. He came at me, dropping the bat just moments before I could push him away. I supposed I should have backed up and claimed some kind of self defense. In the heat of the moment I wasn’t thinking rationally. I came there for a talk, and now we were rolling around on the front lawn, getting in as many punches to each other as we could.

A neighbor that probably had been outside for the whole ordeal ran over and got between us. Once we were pulled away from each other, I sat back and listened to Shayne spinning the whole story around to make it like I’d come there to attack him. The next thing I knew the cops were pulling up, putting me in handcuffs and shoving me into the back of their car. It was like history repeating itself.

After being processed I sat in a cell waiting for my brother to show up to get me out. Unfortunately I discovered that I had to wait until the next morning for my arraignment. In the meantime I was stuck without a way to contact Peyton and let her know that I hadn’t done what Shayne was obviously going to tell her I had.

That’s why it came to be a great surprise when I was visited by the person who had got me locked up in the first place.

With only a thick amount of glass separating us, I picked up the phone while never taking my eyes off of him. “Are you happy now?”

“That depends.” We both knew he was holding all the cards.

“On what?”

“How you want to handle this. You see, Jamey, I want you out of my sister’s life, and I’m willin’ to protect her however I can. Since she can’t seem to stay away from you on her own, it’s up to me to make it happen. Now you have two choices. You can either agree to push her away, and leave her alone, or you can stay locked up and pray that they don’t make you serve more time.”

“You’re f**kin’ blackmailin’ me? You’ve got to be kiddin’. I knew you were an ass**le, but this is bullshit!”

“I don’t’ care what you think. My family has had enough problems. All you’ve done is bring my sister down. I’m tired of seein’ her hurt. I’m doin’ what needs to be done.”

“This will destroy her.”

“No, you’re doin’ a fine job of that on your own. This will save her.”

“You’re insane.” He wasn’t going to dictate my choices.

“That’s an opinion. Make a decision so I don’t have to look at your face any longer.”

“You want me to choose between my freedom and your sister? That’s f**ked up.” I couldn’t make that decision.

“How will your family feel when they find out you’re goin’ back to jail? How about your mother? Will she still support you, let you live in her house, and work at the diner?”

“I don’t care about any of that right now. I care about your sister. I won’t hurt her.”

“Either way you’re goin’ to lose her, Jamey. Face it, you’re out of options.”

“Fuck you.”

“So you pick jail?” He started to get up with a smile on his face.

I waited until he was about to hang up the phone before stopping him. “Wait.” This was killing me inside. “I need time to think about it.”

“I won’t make my statement until tomorrow mornin’. That should give you time to make your decision.”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

He smiled. “It takes one to know one.”

I watched as he hung up the phone and walked away. Immediately I was taken back to my holding cell.

No sooner did I get back when they came and got me again. This time the person waiting for me was my brother. I picked up the phone, first listening to him scream at me, and then finally settling down to hear me out. I proceeded to explain everything that had taken place between us. By the time I was done my brother looked more pissed than me. He wiped his face with his hands while he considered what to advise me to do. “Bro this ain’t about just you and Peyton anymore. Our families are connected. If there is drama with the two of you it trickles down. You know how pissed our aunt and uncle get.”

“Man, now you? I need support.”

“Jamey, we all like Peyton. It’s obvious you’re crazy about her, but enough is enough. You need a break at least. My advice to you is that you take Shayne up on his deal. Let him drop the charges and get you out of this dump. You can let Peyton down easy, then after some time you can convince her that you were wrong.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re askin’ me to do?”

My brother looked at me and shook his head. I could see that he sympathized with my situation. “Yeah. I do. I don’t know what else to tell you. This is ugly, and it ain’t goin’ to get any better with you bein’ locked up.”

“I can’t hurt her again.”

“Jamey, as your brother I’m tellin’ you to make a wise choice. In the long run it will all work out. Besides, you two can use the time apart to figure out if bein’ together is even what you both want.”